The governments have announced the beginning of negotiations to sign a bilateral agreement to exchange tax information which will include an exchange format based on the OECD standard.

Varela’s announcement came as part of the visit to Japan to sign a financing agreement worth up to $2.6 billion to build Metro Line 3. The agreement also includes a technical cooperation grant for hiring a Project Management company for $35 million.

From a statement issued by the Presidency of Panama:

The President of the Republic of Panama, Juan Carlos Varela and the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe announced today the launch of negotiations for the establishment of a bilateral Tax Information Exchange agreement that will include an automatic mode of exchange based on standard set by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

“I wish to announce that today we have agreed with Japan to advance the talks for the negotiation of a bilateral tax information exchange agreement with the Government of Japan, incorporating the parameters of the OECD standard,” said President Varela.